Noctisardor Bypass i am blood and blood and replay

she saw the shift in him—

the arrogance, the hate, the way he stalked forward as if he were king and she some trembling thing beneath his heel.

and in that moment, something ancient and sovereign in her spine snapped back into place.

he came just close enough.

she moved like a blade unsheathed.

with a burst of the strength she had left, morwenna surged upward, fangs flashing white-hot as they closed around the thick fur of his neck. not deep—not lethal—but enough to break skin, enough to spill the truth onto the snow.

her son’s blood met the winter air.

her paw slammed down between his shoulders, forcing him into the drift with a thud.

she stood over him, panting, her own blood smeared on his lips from the struggle—

the mark of his mother, unmistakable.

do not, she hissed, voice low, dangerous, regal, dare speak of weakness. not to me.

her grip tightened for half a heartbeat—not to harm, but to remind.

your father taught you only the shape of strength. never its cost.

she lowered her face to his, eyes burning like cold stars.

i am morwenna. your mother. crowned in blood you have never spilt. you speak of treason?

a scoff, sharp as frostbite.

you know nothing of loyalty. or loss.

her paw kept him pinned, not cruelly, but undeniably.

look at me, c’ed’e.

a command, not a request.

i survived what would have killed your father. i survived what stole you from my belly. i survived every man who tried to break me.

her breath ghosted over his muzzle, fierce and trembling.

and i will not—will not—be called weak by the boy who carries my blood.